Elliott douses the Flames

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues have shown encouraging signs these past few days under new Coach Ken Hitchcock.

Blues 2, Flames 0

They won a tough road game in Pittsburgh this week and have missed getting points in only one of nine games on Hitchcock’s watch.

But one might argue none of the accomplishments has been any more impressive than what the Blues did last night at a sold-out Scottrade Center: They took the measure of Mikka Kiprusoff and beat the Calgary Flames 2-0.

No individual has represented more frustration for the Blues than the smothering Kiprusoff. He is the soft-tossing lefthander the St. Louis Cardinals can’t hit, the relentless pass-rusher the St. Louis Rams can’t block, the goaltending poison for which the Note had no antidote. They found the cure last night in Brian Elliott.

“Ellie has been fantastic for us,” said forward David Backes, who had quite the game himself, with a goal, an assist and four hits.

That goaltender normally plays in front of the Blues when they play Calgary. Kiprusoff came to town with a personal 19-4-2 record and 1.90 goals-against average against the Blues. His most recent work included five consecutive wins against St. Louis, including a 28-save performance in a 3-1 victory over the Blues on Oct. 28 in Calgary. He was good again, turning aside 22 of 24 shots.

But the Blues trumped the Kiprusoff card with an unyielding goaltender of their own. Billed as a backup before the season, Elliott made another deposit on a more prominent role with a 24-save whitewash.

Elliott is 9-1-0, leading the league in goals-against average (1.38) and save percentage (.951) while being tied for the lead in shutouts (three). He also probably leads the league in unassuming statements.

“I try not to really think about it,” Elliott said, referring to his remarkable start. “You can be playing the same way and not really be getting the wins and the results. So, I just try to keep it going as long as I can.”

With the Blues coming off a dynamic win at Pittsburgh, with Kiprusoff in the crease, there was reason to anticipate Black Friday at Scottrade, that is, in an ominous sense.

But along with Elliot’s performance, the contributions of Backes and the cool presence of Alex Pietrangelo — who played more than 24 minutes and scored a key insurance goal — the Blues got an energy lift from the fourth line of Scott Nichol, Ryan Reaves and Brett Sterling to avoid a letdown.

The Blues landed the first punch of the game, literally and figuratively. Early in the first period, Reaves tussled with Tim Jackman and buckled the Flames winger with a right hand. A little while later, Backes scored a short-handed goal.

Although not awarded an assist, Elliott was essential to the play as he stopped former Blue Lee Stempniak on a breakaway.

Seconds later, the burly Backes got a lead pass from Kevin Shattenkirk, got a step on T.J. Brodie and beat Kiprusoff to make it 1-0 with 9:21 remaining.

The goal was the eighth for Backes, the second short-hander of the season for the Blues and a team-leading 13th assist for Shattenkirk.